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Etisalat calls for greater international capacity to protect regional connectivity

Carriers need to build international connectivity and partnerships to prevent network disruptions in the Middle East says Etisalat VP

April 08, 2008

Etisalat has called on international carriers to develop more capacity for the region and to improve strategy for connectivity, to avoid disruption to services such as those caused by undersea cable breaks in the region in February.

Speaking at a meeting of the South Asia, Middle East and North Africa (SAMENA) Telecommunications Council, Ali Amiri, Etisalat's executive vice president for Carrier and Wholesale Services said that carriers needed to ensure they were constantly improving capacity to meet growing demand for voice and data services.

"The need for capacity is a global trend," said Amiri. "Internet content is getting richer and the number of access devices and the number of people able to access are growing massively. This means the demand for higher access speeds is growing, which means the capacity required to access this content should also be increased.

"Fast access to content is critical, whether there is a crisis or not, and the demand for content is growing. This means carriers must have a powerful international connectivity strategy in place if they are to maintain their competitive advantage," he added.

Amiri said that building capacity was an ongoing mission for Etisalat, and highlighted its recent work on projects including The East Africa Marine System (TEAMS) and the India, West Europe and Middle East (IWEME) project. Etisalat minimized disruption to services during cable breakages thanks to its relationships with other international voice and data providers.

"As we are a full-service carrier and wholesale operator, we must continue to develop our network connectivity options to meet growing demand as well as increase capacity, quality and diversity of our services. This is a continuous mission for us as we seek to extend broadband connectivity and reliable voice services to Africa, Asia and beyond," Amiri said.